On learning the title of this book, I reacted with, “I’ve studied leaving Islam and ex-Muslims for years—but what is zemiology?” Briefly, zemiology is the study of harm, presented in this book primarily through a sociological lens.
Lenartowicz interviewed ex-Muslim apostates in Germany and Sweden. Most had become atheists or Christians, though at least one became a Buddhist, something that caught my eye, as I had never encountered a case of conversion from Islam to Buddhism. She explains that her focus is not on the destination of the apostasy but on the interaction of zemiology and the lived experience of leaving Islam.
Much of the book focuses on why people choose to leave Islam. Cited reasons include Islam’s treatment of women, non-Muslims, and children; ethical concerns, such as the perception of Muhammad as a violent pedophile and Allah as an angry tyrant; the religion’s perceived lack of respect for freedom of religion and conscience; the conviction that Islamic clergy are compulsive, corrupt, and hypocritical; and more. This section holds great value for scholars studying how apostates in Europe perceive Islam, as well as for scholars of religion interested in apostasy (disaffiliation, as it is sometimes termed).
A very troubling habit persists in European academia: any criticism of Islam or Islamic cultures must almost reflexively be followed by a justification or apologia—“Of course this is not representative of all Muslims ...” or “But this represents only one severe tradition among many...” Thankfully, our author avoids this trap. She allows the interviewees speak for themselves, even when their view of Islam is indelibly bleak and negative.
The book also contains sociological essays valuable to both sociologists and scholars of zemiology. However, the work suffers from several deficiencies, including punctuation and grammatical errors. Entire interview sections appear in German, an awkward choice for an English-language book. More importantly, the author shows little familiarity with the existing body of literature on ex-Muslim studies, failing to cite key works or include them in the bibliography. Notable omissions include Kathryn Kraft’s Searching for Heaven in the Real World, Seppo Syrjänen’s In Search of Meaning and Identity, and my own Living Among the Breakage.
In the end, the book’s most important contribution is not sociological but political. While all the apostates identify harm as their motive for leaving Islam, they also fear further harm because they have left it. Our author’s interviewees sound an alarm: Islamic coercion and the capacity to inflict harm are alive, well, and growing in Europe.
